Auto thumbnail gallery

ABSTRACT

A tool that enables a user to easily and automatically create a photo gallery of thumbnail images on a Web page. A user selects a group of original images, and the tool automatically produces a corresponding group of thumbnail images on the Web page, with hyperlinks to the corresponding original images. Four predefined templates are included, each defining a different format for the thumbnail images including a vertically oriented gallery, a horizontally oriented gallery, a slide show gallery, and a montage gallery. Captions and descriptive text can also be entered and displayed for the thumbnail images in most of the style galleries. An edit function enables a user to add or delete images to existing galleries and to automatically modify the appearance of a photo gallery by selecting and applying a different template.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to inserting a gallery of imagesinto a document that is accessed over a network, and more specifically,to the automated inclusion of a gallery of reduced-size or “thumbnail”images representing larger images in a Web page that will be accessibleover the Internet or other network, so that the thumbnail images arearranged in a desired format, any of the original larger images beingaccessed and displayed in the Web page by selecting the thumbnail imagecorresponding to the original image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically, Web page's full-size photos or other graphic images are notincluded in a Web page because most Internet users are limited torelatively slow network connections, such as a modem connected to theInternet over a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line, operating atspeeds less than 56 Kbits/sec. Graphically intensive Web pages generallydo not load within a reasonable period of time (i.e., less than aminute) for users connected to the Internet through such a modem. Sinceimages are a popular medium of expression in Web pages, there has been aconflict between the desire to incorporate image content in Web pages,and the need to limit the amount of data that must be transmitted perWeb page, to reduce the time required to load a Web page. One popularmethod of including images in Web pages while reducing the amount ofdata that must be transferred for each page is to include small imagesor thumbnail images in the Web page, each thumbnail image representing acorresponding larger image. Since the amount of data required in a Webpage for displaying an image is directly proportional to the number ofpixels in the displayed image, any reduction in the size of an imageincluded in a Web page causes a corresponding decrease in the amount ofdata that must be downloaded by the user for viewing the image. Athumbnail image created from an original (full size) image typicallyconveys sufficient information so that a person viewing the thumbnailimage can visually determine the content of the original image. Thus,Web pages that display thumbnail images instead of the original largerimages download more quickly and still communicate the desired graphiccontent to the user.

Each thumbnail image is hyperlinked to its parent original image. Byselecting the thumbnail image (generally by using a pointing device suchas a mouse to position a cursor on the thumbnail image and then doubleclicking with the select button), the original image will be transferredto the user's browser program so that the user can readily view theoriginal image if desired. By viewing the thumbnail images, the user canselect and download only those original images that are of particularinterest.

In the prior art, if a user is creating or editing an existing Web pageand wants to insert a thumbnail image to represent a larger image,several manual steps are required. It is necessary for the user to firstproduce the thumbnail image using an image editing program, insert thethumbnail image into the Web page, and then associate a hyperlink backto the original larger image from the thumbnail image so that when thethumbnail image is selected by someone viewing the Web page, the fullsize original image will be retrieved and displayed. This process mustbe repeated for each individual image included. Microsoft Corporation'sFRONTPAGE 2000™ Web page creation and editing software has automated theinsertion of individual thumbnail images, so that the user can morereadily insert a thumbnail image representing a larger original imageinto a Web page. However, many individuals who wish to create a personalWeb page will want to include a plurality of images, such as picturesrelated to a wedding, a graduation, a vacation, or some other event thatis important in their life, e.g., producing a photo gallery of theevent.

When creating Web pages, especially Web pages that incorporate aconsiderable amount of content such as thumbnail images hyperlinked tooriginal parent images, the file management and structural organizationrequired can be challenging, particularly for the casual user. It wouldbe desirable to not only provide tools to save repetitive steps requiredwhen incorporating thumbnail images into Web pages, but to also providetools that automatically introduce some structure and organization intoan otherwise flat process.

Clearly, it would be desirable to enable a plurality of images to beincorporated into a Web page as thumbnail images in a single operation,rather than requiring each image to be added individually through aseries of manual steps, or even as an automated process that must berepeated for each image. It would also be desirable to provide aplurality of user-friendly templates that automatically define severaldifferent formats for a plurality of thumbnail images on a Web page, sothat a casual user can easily create an aesthetically-pleasing galleryof thumbnail images with a minimum of effort. The prior art does notteach or suggest such a tool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention defines a method for enabling a user toautomatically and simultaneously introduce a plurality of thumbnailimages into a Web page to produce a gallery of the thumbnail images. Thethumbnail images represent a corresponding plurality of original images,and each thumbnail image is substantially smaller than its correspondingoriginal image. The method includes the step of enabling a user toselect a plurality of original images that are to be represented by thethumbnail images. A thumbnail image is automatically produced from eachoriginal image selected, and a formatting template is used to determinethe relative position of each thumbnail image on a Web page. A hyperlinklinking each thumbnail image to its corresponding original image isautomatically provided, in the Web page. Finally, a user is enabled tosave the Web page that includes the plurality of thumbnail images andthe hyperlinks. Each thumbnail image appears when the Web page isdisplayed, and each hyperlink enables the corresponding original imageto be retrieved and displayed if a thumbnail image is selected and thehyperlink for the thumbnail image that was selected is activated.

Preferably, a user is enabled to select from among a plurality ofdifferent templates that define the format and layout of the thumbnailimages on the Web page. The selected template is used to generate a Webpage that includes the plurality of thumbnail images and each hyperlinkin the format and layout defined by the template. The plurality oftemplates preferably include a vertically oriented template, ahorizontally oriented template, a slide show oriented template, and amontage template. Alternatively, a user can define a custom template,save the custom template, and select the custom template, rather thanselecting one of the plurality of templates that is provided.Preferably, the templates are defined using extensible style language.In at least one embodiment, each template includes at least one defaultparameter. The default parameter can define a number of thumbnail imagesper row of the template, a height of each thumbnail, a width of eachthumbnail, a title of the template, a description of the template, apreview image file name, and indicate any dependent files relating tothe template.

When a selected template is used to generate a Web page, the presentinvention preferably creates a data manifest for the Web page, inextensible markup language (XML). The data manifest includes at leastthumbnail image data and hyperlink data. Once the data manifest iscreated, it is saved, and an extensible style language file thatcorresponds to the selected template is loaded. The method uses the datamanifest and the extensible style language file that corresponds to theselected template to generate a hypertext markup language (HTML) filefor the Web page.

In one embodiment, the step of creating a data manifest in XML includesthe steps of including a file-width attribute, a file-height attribute,and thumbnail image attributes such as a thumbnail height and athumbnail width. In another embodiment, the step of creating a datamanifest in XML incorporates including at least one of a file attribute,a caption element, and a description element.

Another feature of the present invention is enabling a user to edit agallery of thumbnail images. In at least one embodiment, after the stepof using the template that was selected to generate the Web page, butbefore saving the Web page, a user is enabled to view a preview and editthe Web page. The edit function enables a user to select a different oneof the plurality of templates than previously selected, and in response,the present invention automatically generates a revised Web page thatincludes the plurality of thumbnail images and their hyperlinksdisplayed according to a format provided by the different template. Theuser then can view the edited Web page, and either continue editing orsave the edited Web page.

Preferably, the edit function also enables a user to select anindividual thumbnail to edit or delete, and to select one or moreadditional original images that will be represented by correspondingadditional thumbnail images in the gallery on the Web page. When addingone or more original images, the present invention automaticallygenerates a corresponding thumbnail image for each additional originalimage selected, provides a hyperlink between the thumbnail image andcorresponding additional original image, and then adds the hyperlink andthe thumbnail image to the gallery on the Web page. A user can drag anddrop the one or more additional original images onto the gallery on theWeb page to indicate the selection. When editing a thumbnail image, auser can resize the thumbnail image, crop it, rotate it, add a captionrelating to the thumbnail image, delete an existing caption relating tothe thumbnail image, or modify an existing caption relating thereto.

The step of selecting the original images that are to be represented bythe plurality of thumbnail images can include the step of importing oneor more image files from a storage device, importing one or more imagesfrom a scanner, and/or importing one or more images from a digital imagecapturing device.

The method of the present invention further preferably includes the stepof enabling a user to link Web pages that each include a gallery ofthumbnail images together. In at least one embodiment, a user linksindividual Web pages together by adding a navigation bar to each Webpage.

Other aspects of the present invention are directed to a system forautomatically producing a gallery of thumbnail sized images on a Webpage, from a plurality of original images selected by a user, and to anarticle of manufacture including a computer-readable memory mediumhaving computer-executable machine instructions that when executed by aprocessor, cause it to enable a user to automatically generate a galleryincluding a plurality of thumbnail images on a Web page, by selecting aplurality of original images. In both of these aspects of the presentinvention, the functions implemented are generally consistent with thesteps of the method discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomesbetter understood by reference to the following detailed description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a typical personal computersuitable for implementing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary group of originalimages and thumbnail-sized reproductions of each original image,illustrating the functionality of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary Dialog box that is provided to enable a user toselect a plurality of original images from which corresponding thumbnailimages will be automatically provided for use in a photo gallery on aWeb page;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary Dialog box that is provided to enable a user toselect a photo gallery template that will control an appearance of aphoto gallery of thumbnail images on a Web page, each thumbnail imagecorresponding to an original image selected in the exemplary Dialog boxof FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a browser program view of an exemplary Web page that includesa photo gallery of thumbnail images corresponding to a plurality oforiginal images selected in the exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 3, anddisplayed in a horizontal layout selected from the exemplary Dialog boxof FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a browser view of an exemplary Web page that includes a photogallery of thumbnail images corresponding to a plurality of originalimages selected in the exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 3, which aredisplayed in a vertical layout using the template selected from theexemplary Dialog box of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a browser view of an exemplary Web page that includes a photogallery of thumbnail images corresponding to a plurality of originalimages selected in the exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 3, and displayed ina slide show layout as defined by a corresponding template selected fromthe exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a browser view of an exemplary Web page that includes a photogallery of thumbnail images corresponding to a plurality of originalimages selected in the exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 3, and displayed ina montage layout as defined by a corresponding template selected fromthe exemplary Dialog box of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary Dialog box that is provided to enable a user toselectively edit a plurality of original images selected in theexemplary Dialog box of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart that illustrates the logical steps implementedby software instructions in producing a photo gallery of thumbnailimages, each corresponding to a user selected original image, anddisplayed in a format determined by a predefined photo gallery template,in accord with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be included in anupdated version of FRONTPAGE 2000™, a Web page authoring and editingapplication, which will be distributed by Microsoft Corporation, underthe tentative name of FRONTPAGE 2002™. As implemented therein, thepresent invention will enable a user to automatically produce a photogallery of thumbnail (sized) images on a Web page by selecting a groupof original images. A user is also able to select from among a pluralityof different predefined templates, each template defining a format orlayout for a different style photo gallery.

For each image, the present invention automatically generates a smallthumbnail image and creates a hyperlink connection to the substantiallylarger parent original image. Each thumbnail image is inserted into aWeb page according to the formatting information in the selectedtemplate. Thus, the present invention obviates the need for the user tomanually or even automatically, produce and incorporate each thumbnailimage into a Web page individually, as well as obviating the need forthe user to manually format the Web page to determine the relativeposition of each thumbnail on the Web page.

Exemplary Operating Environment

FIG. 1 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in which thepresent invention may be implemented, by executing machine instructions,such as program modules, on a personal computer. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the invention may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic devices,network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system for implementing theinvention includes a general purpose computing device in the form of aconventional personal computer 20, including a processing unit 21, asystem memory 22, and a system bus 23 that couples various systemcomponents, including the system memory, to processing unit 21. Systembus 23 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memorybus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any ofa variety of bus architectures. The system memory includes a read onlymemory (ROM) 24 and a random access memory (RAM) 25. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) 26, containing the basic routines that helpsto transfer information between elements within personal computer 20,such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 24. Personal computer 20further includes a hard disk drive 27 for reading from and writing to ahard disk (not individually shown), a magnetic disk drive 28 for readingfrom or writing to a removable magnetic disk 29, and an optical diskdrive 30 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 31 suchas a CD-ROM or other optical media. Hard disk drive 27, magnetic diskdrive 28, and optical disk drive 30 are connected to system bus 23 by ahard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface 33, and anoptical disk drive interface 34, respectively. The drives and theirassociated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data for personal computer 20. Although the exemplary environmentdescribed herein employs a hard disk, removable magnetic disk 29, andremovable optical disk 31, it should be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that other types of computer readable media, which can storedata that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, andthe like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, magneticdisk 29, optical disk 31, ROM 24, or RAM 25, including an operatingsystem 35, one or more application programs 36, other program modules37, and program data 38. A user may enter commands and information intopersonal computer 20 through input devices such as a keyboard 40 and apointing device 42. Other input devices (not shown) may include amicrophone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like.These and other input devices are often connected to processing unit 21through a serial port interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus,but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, gameport, or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 47 or other type ofdisplay device is also connected to system bus 23 via an interface, suchas a video adapter 48. In addition to the monitor, the personal computermay include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such asspeakers and printers.

Personal computer 20 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections for communicating with one or more remote computers,such as a remote computer 49. Remote computer 49 may be another personalcomputer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or othercommon network node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to personal computer 20, although only a memorystorage device 50 has been illustrated in FIG. 1. The logicalconnections depicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network (LAN) 51 anda wide area network (WAN) 52. Such networking environments arecommonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets,and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, personal computer 20 isconnected to local network 51 through a network interface or adapter 53.When used in a WAN networking environment, personal computer 20typically includes a modem 54 or other means for establishingcommunications over WAN 52, and over the Internet. Modem 54, which maybe internal or external, is connected to system bus 23 via serial portinterface 46. In a networked environment, program modules depictedrelative to personal computer 20, or portions thereof, may be stored inthe remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that thenetwork connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishinga communications link between the computers may be used.

Before explaining how the features of the present invention areimplemented, it will be helpful to define several terms. The term “HTMLdocument” as used herein means a file that includes HTML content, whichis intended to be viewed or displayed with a Web browser. The term“original image” as used herein and in the claims that follow means adigital image whose size has not been reduced specifically for thepurpose of minimizing an amount of data required to render the image.Note that an original image does not mean that such an image is lifesize, that such an image is not itself a duplicate of some other image,or that such an image has never undergone any manipulation (including areduction in size) from another image. Instead, an original image issimply an image whose size in pixels is sufficiently great to justifynot including it on a Web page unless it is selected for display by arecipient.

Generally, multiple original images are not simultaneously displayed ona Web page because of the required data transfer and sometimes, becausethey would not fit on a single screen of the recipient's display. Incontrast, a “thumbnail image” is an image whose size has been reduced tosignificantly minimize the number of bytes required to render thethumbnail image, even to a point of eliminating some desirable detail.Thumbnail images need only be sufficiently detailed to provide a viewersufficient visual information concerning the content of the originalimage, such as to enable the viewer to decide whether to view thecorresponding original image. Generally, thumbnail images (as the namesuggests) are approximately the size of an individual's thumbnail,though the actual size of thumbnail images can vary depending onspecific applications, size of a user's display screen, size of abrowser window, and display preferences. In any event, significantlymore thumbnail images can fit on a typical Web page than can originalimages.

The following example of a preferred embodiment of the present inventionis disclosed in regard to its use in a Web page authoring program;however, it is not intended that the invention be limited to thatapplication, since it can be clearly applied to other types of HTMLrelated applications. For example, a user might wish to generate photogalleries for archival purposes, rather than for publishing the photogalleries in a Web page on the Internet. Or rather than beingincorporated into a Web authoring and management application, thepresent invention might be incorporated in software provided with andrelating to the use of a digital camera, or within a suite of relatedapplications, some of which are unrelated to Web page authoring tools.While it is understood that it is preferable to use a trademark such asFRONTPAGE 2002™ as an adjective in connection with the type of productto which the present invention is applied, for simplicity, all furtherreferences to this program in the following description will simplyrefer to this application as “FRONTPAGE 2002,” omitting reference to theterm “Web authoring and editing application” and the “™” symbol.

HTML is a relatively simple language used to create hypertext documentsthat are portable from one computer platform to another and generallynot dependent upon a specific operating system. HTML provides the corestructure and format of documents accessible via the Internet. XMLdescribes a class of data objects that can both define a type of dataand convey the data to computers on a network, such as the Internet. XMLdocuments can be stored, distributed, and displayed. XML is a subset orrestricted form of SGML, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (ISO8879), but as the name implies, is extensible without limit. The goal ofXML is to enable generic SGML to be served, received, and processed onthe Web or other network in a way that is not possible with HTML. XMLhas been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperabilitywith both SGML and HTML and customizes SGML in a number of significantways. First, a specific choice of syntax characters was made by thespecification designers so that everyone using XML will use the samewell-defined syntax. For example, all start tags used to identifyelements of an XML file must begin with “<” and end with “>”. Second, anew “empty-element” tag may be used to indicate that there is an emptyelement and that an end tag is not expected. This new empty-element tagis like a start tag with a slash character just before the closinggreater-than angle bracket, i.e., “/>”. Third, tag omission is notallowed, so that each non-empty element will have both a start tag andan end tag. XML was developed by the SGML Editorial Board formed underthe auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) beginning in 1996.The XML specification can be found by linking tohttp://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210 on the Internet.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a newer version ofthe XML language is employed. This “newer” version is XML Schema. TheXML Schema specification can be found by linking tohttp://www.w3.ord/TR/xmlschema-0/ on the Internet. The purpose of aschema is to define a class of XML documents, and so the term “instancedocument” is often used to describe an XML document that conforms to aparticular schema. In fact, neither instances nor schemas need to existas documents per se—they may exist as streams of bytes sent betweenapplications, as fields in a database record, or as collections of XMLInfoset “Information Items”.

Extensible style language (XSL) is a style language that is targeted atXML, in particular to highly-structured, data-rich documents thatrequire extensive formatting. XSL uses an XML notation, and is primarilyintended for complex formatting where the content of the document mightbe displayed in multiple places. For example, the text of a headingmight also appear in a dynamically generated table of contents. Once XSLhas been applied to an XML document, an HTML document can be generatedthat maintains the desired formatting, and that can be readily viewed bya web browser.

Note that some characters are “special” to XSL, in that the standardUnicode definition does not always apply to XSL. Unicode is a 16-bitcharacter code standard (also known as ISO 10646), which is intended toprovide character codes for all the world's written languages. Forexample, the Unicode character for the Japanese Yen sign (¥) is #a5. InXSL, the ampersand sign (&) and the left angle bracket sign (<) must betreated as “foreign” characters. Further details regarding XSL may befound at the W3C web site. The following HTML document, available on theInternet, represents the W3C's recommended standard for XSL:http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL/.

The present invention makes use of HTML, XML, and XSL. In brief, once auser has selected a group of images, the present invention generates athumbnail image corresponding to each original image that was selected,and a hyperlink connecting each thumbnail image to its original parentimage. A data manifest is then generated using XML. The XML datamanifest includes all data relating to the thumbnail images and thehyperlinks to the parent original images. The present invention thenretrieves the default (or a selected) photo gallery template, which isan XSL file. A transform is executed to convert the XML data manifestinto HTML, using the formatting data contained in the XSL style sheetfor the template. The HTML can then be accessed by a Web browser andviewed as a Web page that contains a thumbnail photo gallery. Preferablythe present invention employs the MSXML parser, developed by theMicrosoft Corporation, to manipulate XML data. It should be noted thatother XML parsers could be similarly utilized.

FIG. 2 illustrates the functionality of reproducing thumbnail (smallsize) images 102 a and 102 b from original images 104 a and 104 b, sothat the original images are represented by the thumbnail images, and sothat each thumbnail image has associated with it a hyperlink to theoriginal image. The selection of either thumbnail image 102 a or 102 bin a Web page causes the associated hyperlink to be activated, resultingin the retrieval and display of the corresponding original image 104 aor 104 b. A user simply selects a group of original images and a photogallery template, and FRONTPAGE 2002 will automatically generate a Webpage containing a photo gallery conforming in format to the selectedphoto gallery style. Several photo gallery templates will be included inFRONTPAGE 2002, each capable of automatically producing a differentstyle photo gallery. This photo gallery generating feature of FRONTPAGE2002 will be selectable as a menu item entitled “Photo GalleryProperties” in a Web page editing and authoring module provided in thatprogram. Typically, the user will select the photo gallery menu item,source of original images, and then select both a group of originalimages, and the desired photo gallery template. Note that the originalimages can be present in an existing Web page (i.e., stored in adirectory on the hard drive of the server on which the Web page isaccessed, or stored on hard drive(s) in one or more other computersaccessible over a network), in a hard drive or other memory media on auser's own computer, or imported from an external device such a scanner,digital camera, or other digital image capturing device. It should benoted that the present invention is not limited to inclusion only in aWeb page editor, but instead, could be included with other applicationprograms or provided as a stand-alone program, or provided as a plug-intool for use with other editor and/or authoring programs.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a Dialog box 110 is shown. Preferably, Dialog box110 is displayed once a user selects a pictures tab from a Main PhotoGallery Properties menu (not separately shown). A text box 112 alerts auser that Dialog box 110 relates to Photo Gallery Properties/Pictures.Dialog box 110 displays a plurality of options that may be selected by auser for controlling various parameters of the thumbnail images (e.g.,thumbnail images 102 a and 102 b) that a user wants to provide in aphoto gallery on a Web page, to represent a group of original imagesselected by the user. An Add control 114 is available to enable a userto indicate a desire to add thumbnail images to a photo gallery on a Webpage, an Edit control 116 opens a dialog box that enables a user to editthe original image from which a selected thumbnail image was derived,while a Remove control 118 enables a user to selectively remove one ormore thumbnail images from a photo gallery on a Web page. Preferably, onfirst use, only Add control 114 will be enabled, and all controls willbe disabled. As will be discussed more in detail below, selection ofEdit control 116 will result in the display of another Dialog box thatcontains a larger version of a selected image, as well as userselectable editing options.

A list area 120 enables a user to select one or more images from acurrently selected directory. Preferably on first use, the images listwill be populated with the images in a user's My Pictures Folder. Whenthis folder is empty, list area 120 will be empty until a user selects adifferent image source. It should be understood that from a prior menuscreen (not separately shown) a user can select an image source otherthan a user's My Pictures Folder. Preferably, a user will be able to addimages from the Web, from a file located in a known directory, and fromTWAIN and WIA devices. It is anticipated that enabling a user to importimages from a scanner, or in particular from a digital camera (or frommemory media that was used to record image data in a digital camera),will be a popular feature. Note that a first item in the list displayed,“HOCKEY.JPG,” is shown as being highlighted, indicating that a user hasselected that image.

Referring once again to list area 120, images will appear in the imagelist in the order in which they are added in the selection process.Preferably, the list in list area 120 will be scrollable. A user will beable to select multiple images within the list displayed in list area120. “Shift-select” selects a range of images, and “Ctrl-select” selectsmultiple discontinuous images. Images can be removed from list area 120by selecting one or more images and actuating Remove control 118. Notethat if Dialog box 110 is accessed once a photo gallery has already beengenerated, the image list displayed in list area 120 will be the currentcontents of the photo gallery. In that case, Remove control 118 can beemployed to delete images selected in the images list, from theassociated photo gallery. Preferably, a user will also be able to removeimages from the image list and a photo gallery by selecting images toremove, and hitting the “Delete” key. While not separately shown, if auser desires to manipulate or edit (adding, removing, cropping, orrelocating) thumbnail images in an existing photo gallery, a menu screenis available to enable a user to select the desired photo gallery. Inthis preferred embodiment, a user is able to select a particular photogallery by accessing a Web page, and doubling clicking on any thumbnailimage. At that point, Dialog box 110 will be displayed to a user.

An Up control 122 and a Down control 124 will move a selected image upor down in the list order. Note that the order of the images in listarea 120 determines the relative placement (for example, top to bottomin a vertical array) of thumbnail images in a resulting photo gallery.An image at the top of the list in list area 120 will be the firstthumbnail image in a photo gallery, while an image at the bottom of thelist in list area 120 will be the last thumbnail image in a photogallery (assuming that the first and last images in the list have beenselected to be included in a photo gallery).

Single or multiple images that appear in sequence can be selected andreorganized. For example, the user may select three adjacent images thatcurrently appear in the middle of the list, which will appear asthumbnail images in a middle section of the resulting photo gallery.After selecting those three images, a user can actuate Down control 124repeatedly, to move those three images to the end of the list. If noother changes are made, those images will be the last three images inthe resulting photo gallery. As noted above, if Dialog box 110 isaccessed once a photo gallery has already been generated, the image listdisplayed in list area 120 will be the contents of the photo gallery. Inthat case, the up and down controls can be employed to change the orderof thumbnail images in the existing photo gallery, by changing the orderof the images in the list displayed in list area 120.

A selected image is shown in a Preview Pane 126. As noted above,“HOCKEY.JPG” has been selected from the list in list area 120, and thecorresponding thumbnail image of a hockey player is displayed in PreviewPane 126. Preferably, if multiple images have been simultaneouslyselected, the first image in list area 120 will be displayed in PreviewPane 126. Dialog box 110 includes a text box 128 that will display thetotal number of images a user has selected to provide thumbnail imagesfor inclusion in a photo gallery to be generated by the presentinvention.

The size of a thumbnail image preferably defaults to 100 pixels aboutthe primary axis. A parent image that is square will result in athumbnail image that is 100 pixels in height and 100 pixels in width. Aparent original image that is in a portrait format will result in athumbnail image that is 100 pixels in height, and whose width isproportionate to the original parent image. Similarly, a parent originalimage that is in a landscape format will result in a thumbnail imagethat is 100 pixels in width, and whose height is proportionate to theoriginal parent image. A parent original image that is in a panoramicformat will result in a thumbnail image that is 200 pixels in width, andwhose height is proportionate to the original parent image.

The default size of a thumbnail image described above can be adjustedonce the selected thumbnail image is displayed in Preview Pane 126, byusing any combination of a Pixel Width control 134 and a Pixel Heightcontrol 136.

In this example, the width of the thumbnail image to be displayed in thephoto gallery is 75 pixels, as is the height of the thumbnail image.This indicates that a user has affirmatively changed the default pixelsize of 100 pixels for the primary axis. Perhaps the parent image wassquare, and the thumbnail image size was reduced from 100×100 pixels viadirect drag manipulation on the thumbnail image displayed in PreviewPane 126, or by using a combination of Pixel Width control 134 and PixelHeight control 136. Alternatively, the original parent image might havebeen in a portrait, landscape or panoramic format, and a user overrodethe function of maintaining the proportion of the original image, bymanually selecting the desired thumbnail image size using a combinationof Pixel Width control 134 and Pixel Height control 136, and deselectinga Maintain Aspect Ratio checkbox 132 (which is described in more detailbelow).

Note that the dash line boxes enclosing Pixel Width control 134 andPixel Height control 136 are preferably not displayed to a user, andhave been included in FIG. 3 merely to indicate the relationship betweenthe elements that make up Pixel Width control 134 and Pixel Heightcontrol 136. For example, Pixel Width control 134 includes a textportion identifying the control as relating to Pixel Width, a numericalbox display indicating a relative number of pixels, and a spinnercontrol that enables a number of pixels to be increased or decreased.Pixel Height control 136 includes similar elements. If a user employsPixel Width control 134 or Pixel Height control 136 to manipulate thesize of a thumbnail image, any such change is dynamically linked to thecorresponding thumbnail image displayed in Preview Pane 126.

A Default Size checkbox 130 is actuated when a user desires to employ adefault thumbnail size for the photo gallery. Note this default functionis different than the thumbnail default sizes discussed above. Note thatHOCKEY.JPG is currently selected as the original parent image whosethumbnail image is being previewed in Preview Pane 126. A user hasmanipulated the size of the preview thumbnail image from a default sizeof 100 pixels about the primary axis to 75×75 pixels. Now if a userselects Default Size checkbox 130, all other thumbnail images in thecurrent gallery (those thumbnail images corresponding to the originalparent images listed in list area 120) will have be displayed asthumbnail images having a size of 75×75 pixels. If Default Size checkbox130 is not selected, a user can individually alter the size of eachthumbnail image corresponding to an original parent image listed in listarea 120, by individually selecting the appropriate original parentimage from list area 120, and manipulating the preview thumbnail imagedisplayed in Preview Pane 126 as discussed above. Thus a user can adjustthe thumbnail size on a per image basis, or on a per gallery basis,using Dialog box 110.

As noted above, Dialog box 110 also includes Maintain aspect ratiocheckbox 132, which is preferably selected by default, such that theaspect ratio (ratio of height to width) of the original image ismaintained in the thumbnail image. If a user changes a width of thethumbnail image displayed in Preview Pane 126 and Maintain aspect ratiocheckbox 132 is selected, the height of the thumbnail image willautomatically be adjusted to maintain the aspect ratio of the originalimage. Thus, if the width of the original image is ½ the height,selecting a width of 100 pixels for the thumbnail image willautomatically cause the height of the thumbnail image to be 200 pixels.Maintain aspect ratio checkbox 132 similarly ensures that user selectedchanges in height result in corresponding changes in width, as requiredto maintain the desired aspect ratio.

Photo galleries generated by the present invention can include Captionand Descriptive text, but these parameters may not be displayed,depending upon the template selected. As will be described in detailbelow, some of the photo gallery templates do not provide sufficientspace for Caption and Descriptive text to be displayed, and even thoughsuch text has been associated with a thumbnail image, it will not bedisplayed on the Web page. There is no default entry for either Captiontext or Descriptive text.

Referring to FIG. 3, a Caption text box 138 includes the text “HOCKEY,”which corresponds to the file name of the image highlighted in list area120 that the user entered, less the “.JPG” file extension. Caption textbox 138 will be empty until a user enters some text into the captiontext box. It is anticipated that many users will enter the file name,minus the file extension, as caption text. As shown in FIG. 3, aDescriptive text box 140 is empty, indicating that a user has notelected to include any descriptive text to be displayed adjacent to thethumbnail image of a hockey player (see Preview Pane 126) in the photogallery. Descriptive text box 140 is provided to enable a user toinclude additional text relating to the thumbnail in question. It iscontemplated that the ability to include such descriptive text will beparticular useful when a user has elected to use the file name minus theextension for the Caption text. The default text style for both Captionand Descriptive text is preferably based on the styles that alreadyexist on the Web page the photo gallery is to incorporated into.

A Use Font Formatting radio button 141 is selected as a default. WhenUse Font Formatting radio button 141 is selected, if the Web page thephoto gallery is applied to uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or Themes,the Caption and Description text in the photo gallery will match thetext formatting specified in the CSS or Theme. If no font formattingexists on the Web page, then Times New Roman, 12 point, black, isselected as the default.

A user can change these default text styles by selecting an Overrideradio button 143. This activates font style selection controls thatenable the user to apply a desired formatting. For example, a user canchange text styles by selecting a Font Type drop-down menu 142, a FontSize drop-down window 144, or Bold, Italic, or Underline styles from astyle area 146. In a preferred embodiment, a user can also select adifferent font color, using a font color selection box that has not beenseparately shown. Note that the dash lines surrounding the Bold, Italic,and Underline styles are not displayed to a user and are included inFIG. 3 for illustrative purposes only.

An OK control 148 is selected by a user to indicate that the selectionsmade in Dialog box 110 are acceptable, and selecting the OK controlcauses the present invention to generate (or update) a photo gallery inaccord with the user's selections. A Cancel control 150 instructs thepresent invention to discard the selections made in Dialog box 110, andto return to a preceding menu (not separately shown).

As noted above, Dialog box 110 is a Pictures menu, and is preferablyreached from a Main Photo Gallery Properties Menu (not shown). The MainPhoto Gallery Properties Menu also preferably enables a user to select aLayout menu. This Layout menu enables a user to select a particularphoto gallery template from among a plurality of predefined photogallery templates. Each photo gallery template will result in thegeneration of a Web page including a different style photo gallery ofthumbnail images. A Dialog box 160, shown in FIG. 4, is an exemplaryLayout menu that enables a user to select a desired layout for a photogallery, by selecting one of a plurality of predefined photo gallerytemplates.

Preferably Dialog box 160 is selectable from the Main Photo GalleryProperties menu (not separately shown) via a tab selection. A text box162 alerts a user that Dialog box 160 relates to Photo GalleryProperties/Layout. Text 164 prompts a user to select a photo gallerytemplate from a list area 166. While Dialog box 110 shown in FIG. 3controls the images that will be displayed in a photo gallery producedby the present invention, Dialog box 160 controls the layout or formatof the photo gallery in which the thumbnail images are displayed on aWeb page.

List area 166 enables a user to select one of the predefined photogallery templates. In this embodiment, four photo gallery templates areprovided. These photo gallery templates include a vertical layout, ahorizontal layout, a slide show layout, and a montage layout, as shownin list area 166. Note that MONTAGE LAYOUT is shown as beinghighlighted, indicating that a user has selected this option to generatea montage style photo gallery on a Web page. If a user does not select aphoto gallery template, this embodiment of the present invention willemploy the Horizontal layout as a default. If a user has generated acustomized photo gallery template, the customized template will also belisted in list area 166. While a user can define a custom photo gallerytemplate, generating such a template requires both XML and XLSprogramming skills that are generally beyond the capabilities of acasual user, and it is anticipated that few users will actually developtheir own templates. Only a single template can be selected at one time.However, if a user has selected the MONTAGE LAYOUT, and later decidesthat a different photo gallery style is desired, the user can indicate adecision to edit the existing Web page so that Dialog box 160 will beonce again displayed, and the user can select a different photo gallerytemplate from among those listed in list area 166. Once a differentphoto gallery template has been selected by a user, the Web page isautomatically updated to use the new template by applying the newformatting information from the new template to the thumbnail photogallery that is displayed.

A preview of the selected photo gallery template is displayed in aPreview Pane 168. It should be noted that a set of default images 169are used to provide a preview of each photo gallery template, and thatuser selected images are not displayed in Preview Pane 168. Whiledefault images 169 as shown are blank, in a preferred embodiment aseries of landscape images are provided as the default images. As notedabove, in this example, the “MONTAGE LAYOUT” has been selected from thelist in list area 120, and a montage photo gallery, including thumbnailimages of default images 169, is displayed in Preview Pane 168. If alayout template has not been selected, the default preview is of defaultimages 169 formatted according to the Horizontal layout.

FIGS. 5-8 show exemplary Web pages developed using each of the fourphoto gallery templates that will be provided with FRONTPAGE 2002. Aphoto gallery 180 in FIG. 5 exemplifies a Horizontal Layout; a photogallery 182 in FIG. 6 exemplifies a Vertical Layout; a photo gallery 184in FIG. 7 exemplifies a Slide Show Layout; and, a photo gallery 192 inFIG. 8 exemplifies the Montage Layout. Note that the Montage Layoutshown in FIG. 8 is identical to the preview shown in Preview Pane 166 ofFIG. 4. All photo galleries in FIGS. 5-8 include the same thumbnailimages (which conform to the list displayed in list area 120 of FIG. 3,although the names of the last five images cannot be seen in the listwithout scrolling). Note that in photo galleries 180 and 182, thethumbnail images are all the same size, while in photo gallery 192 (themontage), the thumbnail images are of differing size (as a result ofuser manipulation). Often thumbnail images in a single gallery will bethe same size, such as when a user is importing images from a digitalcamera, which generally provides images of a consistent size. Aspreviously described, the size of the original parent image, inconjunction with thumbnail default sizes (100 pixels about the primaryaxis), Default Size checkbox 130, Maintain aspect ratio checkbox 132,Pixel Width control 134 and Pixel Height control 136 determine the sizeof each thumbnail image.

With respect to photo gallery 192 (the montage), it is anticipated thatusers will likely desire to individually edit the size of eachindividual thumbnail image (thus Default Size checkbox 130 will beunselected, so that each thumbnail image size can be individuallyedited), so that the montage gallery generated has a more aestheticappearance. In photo gallery 184, a thumbnail image 186 a of a surferhas been selected by a user, and a larger size image 186 b of the surferis displayed. Preferably image 186 b is the original parent image A usercan select any one of the visible thumbnail images to be similarlyenlarged. Note that the only Caption text or Description text that willbe displayed is that for the thumbnail image relating to the enlargedimage. If a user desires to view or select a thumbnail image that ishidden, a back control 190 a and a forward control 190 b are provided.These controls enable a user to access hidden thumbnail images. If nothumbnail image is yet selected by a user, the first thumbnail image inthe photo gallery (which is determined by the order of the list ofimages displayed in list area 120 of FIG. 3) is shown as both athumbnail image and an enlarged image. It should be noted that thenumber of thumbnail images displayed at one time is preferably notfixed, but instead is based on an algorithm for displaying thumbnailimages on a 640 pixel width display. If a user has sized thumbnailimages to be quite small, there might be eight or ten thumbnail images,while if a user has sized the thumbnail images to be larger, there maybe as few as three thumbnail images displayed, in addition to the singleoriginal parent image corresponding to one of the three thumbnailimages.

Each photo gallery template will include default formatting settings,some of which a user can adjust within minimum and maximum limits,depending upon the specific template. For example, in the HorizontalLayout template, the default number of images per rows is six, theminimum allowable number of images per row is one; and the maximumnumber of allowable images per rows is ten. For the Montage Layout, thedefault number of images for the top three rows is four, and the defaultnumber of images for the bottom row is three, and the default number ofimages per row is fixed. The default for the Slide Show Layout templateis based on the amount screen space available and the size of thethumbnails, as described above. With respect to the Vertical Layout, thedefault number of images per rows is two, the minimum allowable numberof images per row is one; and the maximum number of allowable images perrows is ten.

As noted above there are defaults for thumbnail sizes. Some photogallery templates also have additional defaults for the thumbnail sizeoption. For the Horizontal Layout template, the default width is 100pixels (200 pixels for panoramic images). In the Montage Layout, for thecenter two rows, the default height is 100 pixels, but there is nodefault height for the top and bottom rows. For the Slide Show Layouttemplate, default settings for the small thumbnail images are 40×40pixels (40×100 pixels for panoramic images). In the Vertical Layouttemplate, the default height is 100 pixels. It should be noted thatthumbnail images of original panoramic images will fill the space of twostandard images.

Referring once again to FIG. 4, a block of text 170 is displayed to auser, describing features of the layout selected in list area 166. Asillustrated, text 170 informs about specifics relating to the MONTAGELAYOUT. Preferred text for each of the layout styles is as follows:

Horizontal Layout

Thumbnail images of your images are created automatically.

Thumbnail images display in multiple rows.

Descriptive text is placed below each image.

Montage Layout

Thumbnail images of your images are created automatically

Thumbnail images are displayed in a pattern like a collage.

Caption text appears when you rest the pointer on the image. Descriptivetext is not available with this layout.

Slide Show Layout

Thumbnail images of your images are created automatically.

Thumbnail images are arranged in a row that scrolls across the top.

The selected image is displayed full-size in the center.

Descriptive text is placed below the full-size image.

Vertical Layout

Thumbnail images of your images are created automatically.

Thumbnail images are arranged in columns.

Descriptive text is placed to the right of the images.

An OK control 172 is selected by a user to indicate that the selectionsmade in Dialog box 160 are acceptable, and that the present invention isinstructed to generate (or update) a photo gallery in accord with theuser's selections. A Cancel control 174 is selected to discard theselections made in Dialog box 160, and to return to a preceding menu orstate.

Referring once again to Edit control 116 of FIG. 3, a user will selectthe Edit function to edit the original images that were used to generatethumbnail images for inclusion in a photo gallery. Changes to theoriginal images automatically result in changes in the correspondingthumbnail, with the exception that default thumbnail sizes will not beover ridden if the size of the original image is changed. Note that if auser accesses the original image from dialog box other than Dialog box194 (of FIG. 9), and edits the original image, those edits will not belinked to the corresponding thumbnail image. Upon selecting Edit control116, a Dialog box 194 shown in FIG. 9 will be displayed to a user. AText box 196 alerts a user that Dialog box 194 relates to Photo GalleryProperties/Pictures/Edit. Dialog box 194 displays a plurality of optionsthat may be selected by a user for controlling various parameters of theoriginal images used to generate the thumbnail images that make up aphoto gallery on a Web page. The picture edit function can be used inconjunction with generating a new photo gallery, or editing originalimages and their corresponding thumbnail images in an existing photogallery.

A Preview Pane 198 includes an original image ready for editing. Theparticular original image displayed in Preview Pane 198 correspond tothe thumbnail image selected in list area 120 of FIG. 3, which is alsodisplayed in thumbnail form in Preview Pane 126 of FIG. 3. Thus, thefirst image available for editing in Dialog box 194 is thatcorresponding to the thumbnail image most recently selected in Dialogbox 110 of FIG. 3. Preview Pane 198 displays the original hockey image(“HOCKEY.JPG”) corresponding to the thumbnail image previously selected.Note that Preview Pane 198 includes scale bars 200 to enable a user tomore accurately adjust both a height and width of the image beingdisplayed in Preview Pane 198.

A Previous control 202 and a Next control 204 enable a user to replacethe original image currently being displayed in Preview Pane 198 withanother original image from the list used to generate the thumbnailimages in a photo gallery whose images are being edited. Note that theorder of the images is determined by the list displayed in list area 120of FIG. 3. The Next and Previous controls “wrap around”, such thatselecting Previous control 202 on the first image will result in thedisplay of the last image in list area 120. Similarly, selecting Nextcontrol 204 when on the last image will result in the display of thefirst imaged listed in list area 120. Since “HOCKEY.JPG” is at the topof the list, selecting Previous control 202 will result in the displayof the original image of “TABLETENNIS.JPG,” which is the last image inthe list displayed in list area 120. Note that “TABLETENNIS.JPG” is notvisible in list area 120, as the list exceeds the size of the list box.However, note that in the examples of the different photo gallerylayouts (FIGS. 5, 6 and 8; noting that FIG. 7 illustrates the slide showformat, and not all thumbnail images are visible at once), a thumbnailimage corresponding to “TABLETENNIS.JPG” is always the last thumbnailimage displayed, indicating that “TABLETENNIS.JPG” is the last imagelisted in list area 120. Referring once again to “HOCKEY.JPG”, selectingNext control 204 when “HOCKEY.JPG” is the selected image will result inthe display of the original image of “SKIING.JPG,” which is the nextimage in the list displayed in list area 120.

While not currently implemented in a preferred embodiment, it iscomtemplated that the size of the original image displayed in PreviewPane 198 might be adjusted by a direct drag manipulation of the bordersor comers of the image, as an alternative to using a Pixel Width control206 and a Pixel Height control 208. Note that the dash-line boxesenclosing Pixel Width control 206 and Pixel Height control 208 are notdisplayed to a user in this exemplary embodiment, and have been includedin FIG. 9 merely to indicate the elements included in Pixel Widthcontrol 206 and Pixel Height control 208, respectively. As with thecontrols described in conjunction with FIG. 3, Pixel Width control 206includes a text portion identifying the control as relating to PixelWidth, a numerical entry box display for entry of a desired number ofpixels, and a spinner control that enables a number of pixels to beincreased or decreased. Pixel Height control 208 includes similarelements relating to image height. The difference between the PixelWidth and Pixel Height controls of Dialog box 110 in FIG. 3 and thecorresponding controls of Dialog box 194 in FIG. 9 is that is that thePixel Width and Pixel Height control settings of Dialog box 110 areapplied to a selected thumbnail image, while in Dialog box 194, thePixel Width and Pixel Height control settings are applied to a selectedoriginal image.

As noted above, if a user employs a direct drag manipulation of theimage displayed in Preview Pane 198, rather than utilizing Pixel Widthcontrol 206 and Pixel Height control 208, the numerical displays ofPixel Width control 206 and Pixel Height control 208 will be dynamicallyupdated to reflect the adjusted size of the original image displayed inPreview Pane 198. In this example, the width and height of the originalimage is 640 pixels.

Preferably, a Maintain aspect ratio checkbox 211 is selected by default,such that the aspect ratio (ratio of height to width) of the originalimage is maintained. If a user changes a width of an original image andMaintain aspect ratio checkbox 211 is selected, the height of the editedoriginal image will automatically be adjusted to maintain the aspectratio of the original image. Thus, if the width of the original image isone-half the height and the Maintain aspect ratio option is active,selecting a width of 100 pixels for the edited original image willautomatically cause the height of the edited original image to be 200pixels. The same control of aspect ratio applies to changes made bydirect drag manipulation of the image.

Also, a Set as Default Size check box 210 is preferably selected bydefault, such that the selected size becomes a new default for theoriginal images.

Dialog box 194 also includes a plurality of Rotate Picture controls212-218. A Rotate Picture control 212 rotates the original image 90degrees to the left, while a Rotate Picture control 214 rotates theoriginal image by 90 degrees to the right. A Flip Vertical Picturecontrol 216 flips the original image about a horizontal axis, while aFlip Horizontal Picture control 218 flips the original image about avertical axis. Note that these edit functions not only affect theoriginal image, but also automatically update the thumbnail imagegenerated from the original image as well. However, the editing the sizeof the original image does not similarly affect the thumbnail images,because of size settings (or default values) controlling the size of thethumbnail images.

A Crop control 220 enables a user to crop the original image andincludes a text label describing the dimensions of the area within thecrop frame, once the Crop function has been activated. Crop functionsare well known in the art. If the content of the original image ischanged by cropping, the corresponding thumbnail image will reflect thechange in its original image.

A Reset control 222 discards any cropping, rotating, or resizingfunctions performed on the currently selected original image. An OKcontrol 224 is selected by a user to indicate that the selections madein Dialog box 198 are acceptable, causing the software to generate (orupdate) a photo gallery in accord with the user's selections. A Cancelcontrol 226 is selected to indicate a decision to discard any selectionsjust made in Dialog box 194, and to return to the preceding menu. If,after opening Dialog box 194, ten different images have been edited andan eleventh image is currently being displayed in Preview Pane 198, andif a user actuates Cancel control 226, all changes to all ten imageswill be lost. The only way to ensure that edits are accepted and storedis to actuate OK control 224. Referring now to FIG. 10, a flow chart 230is shown that illustrates the logical steps implemented by thisembodiment of the present invention to generate a photo gallery ofthumbnail images on a Web page after a user selects a group of originalimages. Moving from a start block 232 in which the application employingthe present invention is activated, the logic enumerates the predefinedphoto gallery templates in a block 234. Then, in a decision block 236,the logic determines if a user has selected a specific photo gallerytemplate. If so, in a block 238, the logic retrieves the selected photogallery template. If a user has not selected a specific photo gallerytemplate in decision block 236, the logic advances to a block 240, and adefault template is retrieved. As discussed above, the horizontal photogallery template is preferably employed as the default template if theuser does not choose a template. Regardless of whether a defaulttemplate or a user selected template is retrieved, the next step in thelogical sequence is to display picture gallery Dialog box 110 of FIG. 3to a user in a block 242.

Dialog box 110 enables a user to either select a plurality of images toadd to an existing photo gallery or for use in generating a new photogallery, or to selectively to edit images, as described in detail abovewith respect to FIGS. 3 and 9. The logic then advances to a block 246,indicating that user input has been completed (as described above, thiscondition is indicated when a user selects the OK control from Dialogbox 110). The OK control from Dialog box 194 returns a user to Dialogbox 110.

A user selects images to be used to generate a photo gallery (or editsan existing photo gallery) in a block 244. Once user input is complete,in a block 246, thumbnail images are produced in a block 248 for all theoriginal images selected or edited. Note that in the prior art, a userhas generally been required to manually initiate the generation ofthumbnail images from original images by individually selecting eachoriginal image, whereas in block 248 thumbnail images are automaticallygenerated from a plurality of original images, without requiringmultiple instructions or acts from a user. Note that in block 248, notonly are thumbnail images produced for each original image selected (oredited), but hyperlinks connecting each thumbnail to the correspondingoriginal image are also generated. In block 248, a link attribute isautomatically added to (associated with) each of the thumbnail images.Whenever a recipient user selects the thumbnail image in the Web pagethat is being created, the selection will cause the web browser toactivate the link attribute and display the original image correspondingto the selected thumbnail image.

The logic next proceeds to a block 250, in which an XML data manifest isgenerated, which contains the thumbnail and hyperlink data generated inblock 248. A preferable format for the XML data manifest used with theXLS Layout Template corresponds to the Schema provided below (see Sample#1). Some specific points relevant to the preferred XML manifest arethat the XML provided must be either UTF8 encoded or the “encoding”attribute must be set to the code page of the text in the captions Basedon a particular photo gallery template selected, this embodiment of thepresent invention provides an <options> block included in the XMLmanifest that contains:

-   -   An “imgPerRow” attribute specifying the number of images per        Row;    -   A “pageName” attribute specifying the filename of the page on        which the layout is being inserted. This attribute will be used        to set the title attribute on the generated HTML page to “photo        gallery for [page name];”    -   A <dependent-files> block containing the original        <dependent-files> list specified in the template but with the        ‘path’ attribute updated to point to the files in their actual        location in the web;

The XML manifest will also include a <pictures> block containing zero tomany <picture> elements and each <picture> element has the followingattributes and elements:

A “file”—attribute—which is the URL to the main image file;

A “filewidth”—attribute—which is the width of the main image;

A “fileheight”—attribute—which is the height of the main image;

A “thumb”—attribute—which is the URL to the thumbnail image;

A “thumbheight”—attribute—which is the height of the thumbnail image;

A “thumbwidth”—attribute—which is the width of the thumbnail image;

A “caption”—element—which is a short block of HTML about the picture;any HTML can be specified, as long as it is well-formed;

A “description”—element—which is a longer description of the image; anyHTML can be specified, as long as it is well-formed.

Once the XML data manifest is generated, the logic advances to a block252 and the XML data manifest is stored. In a block 254, the logic loadsthe XLS template file relating to the selected photo gallery template,and then in a block 256, the logic generates an HTML file using the XLSfile for the selected photo gallery template and the XML data manifest,including the thumbnail image data and hyperlink data. The HTML filethus generated defines a Web page that includes a thumbnail imagegallery of all the selected or edited images, arranged in the formatdictated by the selected (or default) photo gallery template.

Once the HTML file has been generated, a preview of the Web page isdisplayed to a user in a block 258. The logic then advances to adecision block 260, in which the logic determines if a user desires toedit the current photo gallery. If so, the logic returns to block 242,and picture gallery Dialog box 110 of FIG. 3 is once again displayed toa user. If, in decision block 260, a user elects not to edit the currentphoto gallery, the logic advances to a block 262, and the HTML file issaved. In a next block 264, the thumbnail images and original images arestored, and in a block 268, the final HTML file is rendered and saved.

In a decision block 270, the logic determines if a user is finishedgenerating or editing photo galleries. If not, a user is once againreturned to block 242, and the picture gallery Dialog box 110 of FIG. 3is once again displayed to a user. Once a user has indicated that nofurther editing is to be done, then the logic flow terminates at an endblock 272.

It should be noted that a user can indicate a desire to edit in severalfashions. If Dialog box 110 (FIG. 3) is displayed to a user (and thedisplay is not a first use (in which Edit control 116 is disabled)), auser can actuate Edit control 116, and Dialog box 194 will be displayedto a user so that the user can select an original image to edit asdescribed above in conjunction with FIG. 9. Note that once a userselects OK control 224 in Dialog box 194 of FIG. 9, a user is returnedto Dialog box 110 of FIG. 3. If Dialog box 110 is displayed to a user,the user can select an image from the list in list area 120 and eitherperform a drag manipulation on the thumbnail image displayed in PreviewPane 126, or employ Pixel Width control 134 and/or Pixel Height control136 to edit the thumbnail image displayed in Preview Pane 126. Thepresent invention also enables a user to initiate editing by doubleclicking on a specific thumbnail image displayed in a photo gallery on aWeb page generated by the present invention. Double clicking a thumbnailimage will cause the display of Dialog box 110, and the thumbnail imagethat was thus selected will be automatically highlighted in list area120 and automatically displayed in Preview Pane 126.

A user can add thumbnail images of additional original images to anexisting photo gallery on a Web page by accessing the Web page and usinga drag and drop function while the application that includes the presentinvention is active. In addition, a user can select a plurality ofimages, and then drag the images over the photo gallery, causing theimages to be added and automatically “thumb nailed,” for use in thephoto gallery. The images thus selected will be added to the end of listof images already included in the photo gallery. Should a user desire toadd or edit Caption or Description text, or edit an image, it will benecessary for the user to again open Dialog box 110.

Preferably the present invention includes an automatic file clean uputility. When the invention generates a set of thumbnails images asdescribed above, those thumbnail images are stored in a Photo Galleryfile. When a user decides to delete a particular Photo Gallery, ratherthan leaving the previously stored thumbnail images used in the PhotoGallery that has been deleted in the Photo Gallery file, those thumbnailimages are automatically deleted. This type of clean up is somethingusers would normally have to do affirmatively do (and generally don'tend up doing).

Exemplary Coding

The following samples of program code are provided: (1) a preferredSchema for the XML manifest, showing the elements that are required togenerate an XML manifest in accord with the present invention; (2) anexemplary XML data manifest that follows the XML Schema of the Sample;(3) a sample of a preferred format for XLS Template data; (4) anexemplary XSL Horizontal Photo Gallery template; (5) an exemplary XSLMontage Photo Gallery template; (6) an exemplary XSL Slide Show PhotoGallery template; and (7) an exemplary XSL Vertical Photo Gallerytemplate.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with thepreferred form of practicing it and modifications thereto, those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that many other modificationscan be made to the invention within the scope of the claims that follow.Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the invention in anyway be limited by the above description, but instead be determinedentirely by reference to the claims that follow.

1. A method for enabling a user to automatically introduce a pluralityof thumbnail images into a Web page to represent a plurality of originalimages, each thumbnail image having a size that is substantially smallerthan each corresponding original image, comprising the steps of: (a)enabling the user to select the plurality of original images that are tobe represented on the Web page by the plurality of thumbnail images; (b)producing a thumbnail image from each original image, by enabling theuser to drag and drop an original image onto said Web page, and inresponse, automatically generating a corresponding thumbnail image forthe original image; (c) determining a position of each thumbnail imageon the Web page in accord with a format specified by a template; (d)automatically providing a hyperlink from each thumbnail image to eachcorresponding original image in the Web page; and (e) enabling the userto save the Web page which includes the plurality of thumbnail imagesand hyperlinks to the original images, each thumbnail image appearing inthe position specified by the template when the Web page is displayed,selection of a thumbnail image and activation of a hyperlink associatedwith said thumbnail image causing the corresponding original image to beretrieved for display.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising thestep of enabling a user to select the template from among a plurality oftemplates, each of said plurality of templates defining a differentformat with which said plurality of thumbnail images will be displayedon said Web page.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality oftemplates include at least one of a vertically oriented template inwhich the thumbnail images are arrayed vertically, a horizontallyoriented template in which the thumbnail images are arrayedhorizontally, a slide show template, and a montage template.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: (a) enabling a userto define a custom template; (b) enabling a user to save said customtemplate; and (c) enabling a user to select said custom template todetermine the format with which the plurality of thumbnail images aredisplayed on the Web page.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein each of theplurality of templates comprises an extensible style language file. 6.The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: (a) displaying apreview view of the Web page to a user; and (b) enabling a user to editsaid Web page.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of enabling auser to edit said Web page comprises the steps of: (a) enabling a userto select a different one of said plurality of templates than waspreviously selected; (b) automatically using said different one of theplurality of templates to generate an edited Web page that includes saidplurality of thumbnail images, said plurality of thumbnail images beingdisplayed according to formatting information provided by said differentone of said plurality of templates; (c) displaying a preview of theedited Web page to a user; and (d) enabling a user to selectivelyperform at least one of the following: (i)continuing to edit said editedWeb page; and (ii)saving the Web page that has been edited.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the step of enabling a user to edit said Webpage comprises at least one of the steps of: (a) enabling a user toselect one of the plurality of thumbnail images to edit; (b) enabling auser to select one of the plurality of thumbnail images to delete; and(c) enabling a user to select at least one additional original image forwhich a corresponding thumbnail image and hyperlink will beautomatically generated.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step ofenabling a user to select one of the plurality of thumbnail images toedit comprises at least one of the steps of: (a) enabling a user toresize said thumbnail image that was selected; (b) enabling a user tocrop said thumbnail image that was selected; (c) enabling a user torotate said thumbnail image that was selected; (d) enabling a user toadd a caption relating to said thumbnail image that was selected; (e)enabling a user to delete an existing caption relating to said thumbnailimage that was selected; (f) enabling a user to modify an existingcaption relating to said thumbnail image that was selected; (g) enablinga user to add a description relating to said thumbnail image that wasselected; (h) enabling a user to delete an existing description relatingto said thumbnail image that was selected; and (i) enabling a user tomodify an existing description relating to said thumbnail image that wasselected.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step ofemploying at least one of a default number of thumbnail images per rowof the template, a default height for each thumbnail image, a defaultwidth for each thumbnail image, a title of the template, a descriptionof the template, and a preview image file name.
 11. The method of claim1, further comprising the steps of: (a) building a data manifest inextensible markup language that includes at least thumbnail data andhyperlink data; (b) loading an extensible style language filecorresponding to the selected template; and (c) using said data manifestand said extensible style language file to generate a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file defining said Web page.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the step of building a data manifest comprises the steps of: (a)including within the data manifest a thumbnail image height attribute;and (b) including within the data manifest a thumbnail image widthattribute.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of building adata manifest further comprises at least one of the steps of: (a)including within the data manifest a file attribute; (b) includingwithin the data manifest a caption element; and (c) including within thedata manifest a description element.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of automatically generating a hyperlink betweensaid corresponding thumbnail and the original image; and adding saidcorresponding thumbnail and said hyperlink on said Web page.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of enabling a user to select theplurality of original images that are to be represented by the pluralityof thumbnail images comprises at least one of the steps of: (a) enablinga user to import a plurality of original images from at a storage; (b)enabling a user to import a plurality of original images from a scanner;and (c) enabling a user to import a plurality of original images from adigital image capturing device.
 16. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of enabling a user to link Web pages that includethumbnail images together.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the stepof enabling a user to link individual Web pages together comprises thestep of enabling a user to add a navigation bar to each Web page to belinked together.
 18. An article of manufacture adapted for use with acomputer to enable a user to automatically introduce a plurality ofthumbnail images into a Web page to represent a plurality of originalimages, each thumbnail image having a size that is substantially smallerthan each corresponding original image, comprising: (a) a memory medium;and (b) a plurality of machine instructions stored on the memory medium,said plurality of machine instructions, when executed by a computer,causing the computer to: (i) enable a user to select the plurality oforiginal images that are to be represented on the Web page by theplurality of thumbnail images; (ii) automatically produce a thumbnailimage from each original image, by enabling the user to drag and drop anoriginal image onto said Web page, and in response. automaticallygenerate a corresponding thumbnail image for the original image; (iii)determine a position of each thumbnail image on the Web page in accordwith a format specified by a template; (iv) automatically providing ahyperlink from each thumbnail image to each corresponding original imagein the Web page; and (v) enable a user to save the Web page, whichincludes the plurality of thumbnail images and hyperlinks to theoriginal images, each thumbnail image appearing in the positionspecified by the template when the Web page is displayed, selection of athumbnail image and activation of a hyperlink associated with saidthumbnail image causing the corresponding original image to be retrievedfor display.
 19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein saidplurality of machine instructions further cause the computer to enable auser to select a template from among a plurality of templates, includeat least one of a vertically oriented template in which the plurality ofthumbnail image are arrayed vertically, a horizontally oriented templatein which the plurality of thumbnail images are arrayed horizontally, aslide show oriented template, and a montage template.
 20. The article ofmanufacture of claim 18, wherein when said plurality of machineinstructions further cause the computer to: (a) enable a user to definea custom template; (b) enable a user to save said custom template; and(c) enable a user to select said custom template to determine a formatfor positioning the plurality of thumbnail images on the Web page. 21.The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein each of said pluralityof templates comprises an extensible style language file.
 22. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality oftemplates includes at least one of: a default number of thumbnail imagesper row of the template, a default height of each thumbnail image, adefault width of each thumbnail image, a title of the template, adescription of the template, and a preview image file name.
 23. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 18, wherein said plurality of machineinstructions further cause the computer to: (a) build a data manifest inextensible markup language that includes at least thumbnail image dataand hyperlink data; (b) load an extensible style language filecorresponding to the selected the template; and (c) use said datamanifest and said extensible style language file corresponding to theselected the template to generate a hypertext markup language (HTML)file defining said Web page.
 24. The article of manufacture of claim 23,wherein said plurality of machine instructions further cause thecomputer to: (a) include within the data manifest a thumbnail imageheight attribute; and (b) include within the data manifest a thumbnailimage width attribute.
 25. The article of manufacture of claim 24,wherein said plurality of machine instructions further cause thecomputer to implement at least one of the following: (a) include withinthe data manifest a file attribute; (b) include within the data manifesta caption element; and (c) include within the data manifest adescription element.
 26. The article of manufacture of claim 18, whereinafter said plurality of machine instructions further cause the computerto: (a) display a preview of the Web page to a user; and (b) enable auser to edit said Web page.
 27. The article of manufacture of claim 26,wherein when said plurality of machine instructions cause the computerto enable a user to edit said Web page, said plurality of machineinstructions further cause the computer to: (a) enable a user to selecta different one of said plurality of templates than was previouslyselected by the user to generate the Web page; (b) automatically use thedifferent template to generate an edited Web page that includes saidplurality of thumbnail images displayed according to formattinginformation provided by said different template; (c) display a previewof the edited Web page to a user; and (d) enable a user to elect one ofthe following: (i) continue to edit said edited Web page; and (ii) savesaid edited Web page.
 28. The article of manufacture of claim 26,wherein when said plurality of machine instructions cause the computerto enable a user to edit said Web page, said plurality of machineinstructions further cause the computer to perform at least one of thefollowing functions: (a) enable a user to select one of the plurality ofthumbnail images to edit; (b) enable a user to select one of theplurality of thumbnail images to delete; and (c) enable a user to selectat least one additional original image to include on said Web page, acorresponding thumbnail and a hyperlink between said correspondingthumbnail and each additional original image being automaticallygenerated for each additional original image.
 29. The article ofmanufacture of claim 28, wherein when said plurality of machineinstructions cause the computer to enable a user to select said one ofthe plurality of thumbnail images to edit, said plurality of machineinstructions further cause the computer to perform at least one of thefollowing functions: (a) enable a user to resize said one of theplurality of thumbnail images; (b) enable a user to crop said one of theplurality of thumbnail images; (c) enable a user to rotate said one ofthe plurality of thumbnail images; (d) enable a user to add a captionrelating to said one of the plurality of thumbnail images; (e) enable auser to delete an existing caption relating to said one of the pluralityof thumbnail images; (f) enable a user to modify an existing captionrelating to said one of the plurality of thumbnail images; (g) enablinga user to add a description relating to said one of the plurality ofthumbnail images; (h) enabling a user to delete an existing descriptionrelating to said one of the plurality of thumbnail images; and (i)enabling a user to modify an existing description relating to said oneof the plurality of thumbnail images.
 30. The article of manufacture ofclaim 18, wherein when said plurality of machine instructions cause thecomputer to automatically produce a thumbnail image from each originalimage, said plurality of machine instructions further cause the computerto: (a) automatically generate a hyperlink between said correspondingthumbnail image and the original image; and (b) add said hyperlink andsaid corresponding thumbnail to said Web page.
 31. The article ofmanufacture of claim 18, wherein when said plurality of machineinstructions cause the computer to enable a user to select the pluralityof original images that are to be represented by the plurality ofthumbnail images, said plurality of machine instructions further causethe computer to: (a) enable a user to import a plurality of originalimages from a storage; (b) enable a user to import a plurality oforiginal images from a scanner; and (c) enable a user to import aplurality of original images from a digital image capture device. 32.The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein said plurality ofmachine instructions further cause the computer to enable a user to linkindividual Web pages together.
 33. The article of manufacture of claim32, wherein when said plurality of machine instructions cause thecomputer to enable a user to link individual Web pages together, saidplurality of machine instructions further cause the computer to enable auser to add a navigation bar to each Web page to be linked together. 34.A system for enabling a user to automatically introduce a plurality ofthumbnail images into a Web page to represent a plurality of originalimages, each thumbnail image having a size that is substantially smallerthan each corresponding original image, said system comprising: (a) amemory for storing a plurality of machine instructions; (b) a displaythat displays text and images; (c) a user interface that enables a userto provide input to the system; and (d) a processor, coupled to thememory, the display, and the user interface, said processor executingthe plurality of machine instructions, causing a plurality of functionsto be implemented, said plurality of functions including: (i) enablingthe user to select the plurality of original images that are to berepresented on the Web page by the plurality of thumbnail images; (ii)producing a thumbnail image from each original image, by enabling a userto drag and drop an original image onto said Web page, and in response,automatically generating a corresponding thumbnail image for theoriginal image; (iii) determining a position of each thumbnail image onthe Web page in accord with a format specified by a template; (iv)automatically providing a hyperlink from each thumbnail image to eachcorresponding original image in the Web page; and (v) enabling the userto save the Web page, which includes the plurality of thumbnail imagesand hyperlinks to the original images, each thumbnail image appearing inthe position specified by the template when the Web page is displayed,selection of a thumbnail image and activation of a hyperlink associatedwith said thumbnail image pausing the corresponding original image to beretrieved for display.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the machineinstructions cause the processor to prompt a user to select one templatefrom among a plurality of different templates for determining a formatand position of the plurality of thumbnail images in the Web page, theplurality of different templates including at least one of a verticallyoriented template that arrays the thumbnail images vertically, ahorizontally oriented template that arrays the plurality of thumbnailimages horizontally, a slide show oriented template, and a montagetemplate.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein the function of enabling auser to select said one template from among the plurality of templatescomprises the functions of: (a) enabling a user to define a customtemplate; (b) enabling a user to save said custom template; and (c)including said custom template among the plurality of templates fromwhich the user is enabled to select.
 37. The system of claim 35, whereineach of the plurality of templates comprises an extensible stylelanguage file.
 38. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the pluralityof templates comprises at least one of: a default number of thumbnailimages per row, a default height of each thumbnail image, a defaultwidth of each thumbnail image, a title of the template, a description ofthe template, and a preview image file name.
 39. The system of claim 35,wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor toimplement the functions of: (a) displaying a preview of the Web page toa user; and (b) enabling a user to edit said Web page.
 40. The system ofclaim 39, wherein the function of enabling a user to edit said Web pageincludes the functions of: (a) enabling a user to select a different oneof said plurality of templates than was previously selected to producethe Web page; (b) automatically using said different template togenerate an edited Web page that includes said plurality of thumbnailimages, said plurality of thumbnail images being displayed according toformatting information provided by said different template; (c)displaying a preview of the edited Web page to a user; and (d) enablinga user to selectively perform one of the following: (i) continuing toedit said edited Web page; and (ii) saving said edited Web page.
 41. Thesystem of claim 39, wherein the function of enabling a user to edit saidWeb page comprises at least one of the functions of: (a) enabling a userto select one of the plurality of thumbnail images to edit; (b) enablinga user to select one of the plurality of thumbnail images to edit; and(c) enabling a user to select at least one additional original image toinclude on said Web page, a corresponding thumbnail for each additionaloriginal image and a hyperlink between said corresponding thumbnail andeach additional original image being automatically generated, and saidcorresponding thumbnail being added to said Web page.
 42. The system ofclaim 41, wherein the function of enabling a user to select one of theplurality of thumbnail images to edit comprises at least one of thefunctions of: (a) enabling a user to resize one of the plurality ofthumbnail images; (b) enabling a user to crop one of the plurality ofthumbnail images; (c) enabling a user to rotate one of the plurality ofthumbnail images; (d) enabling a user to add a caption relating to oneof the plurality of thumbnail images; (e) enabling a user to delete anexisting caption relating to one of the plurality of thumbnail images;(f) enabling a user to modify an existing caption relating to one of theplurality of thumbnail images; (g) enabling a user to add a descriptionrelating to one of the plurality of thumbnail images; (h) enabling auser to delete an existing description relating to one of the pluralityof thumbnail images; and (i) enabling a user to modify an existingdescription relating to one of the plurality of thumbnail images. 43.The system of claim 34, wherein the function of using the template togenerate a Web page comprises the functions of: (a) building a datamanifest in extensible markup language that includes at least thumbnaildata and hyperlink data; (b) loading an extensible style language filecorresponding to the template; and (c) using said data manifest and saidextensible style language file to generate a hypertext markup language(HTML) file defining said Web page.
 44. The system of claim 43, whereinthe function of building a data manifest in extensible markup languagecomprises the functions of: (a) including within the data manifest athumbnail image height attribute; and (b) including within the datamanifest a thumbnail image width attribute.
 45. The system of claim 44,wherein the function of building a data manifest in extensible markuplanguage further comprises at least one of the functions of: (a)including within the data manifest a file attribute; (b) includingwithin the data manifest a caption element; and (c) including within thedata manifest a description element.
 46. The system of claim 34, whereinthe function of automatically generating a hyperlink between saidcorresponding thumbnail and the original image, and adding saidcorresponding thumbnail and said hyperlink to said Web page.
 47. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein the function of enabling a user to selectthe plurality of original images that are to be represented by theplurality of thumbnail images comprises at least one of the functionsof: (a) enabling a user to import a plurality of original images from astorage to which the system is coupled; (b) enabling a user to import aplurality of original images from a scanner to which the system iscoupled; and (c) enabling a user to import a plurality of originalimages from a digital image capture device to which the system iscoupled.
 48. The system of claim 34, wherein the machine instructionsfurther cause the processor to implement the function of enabling a userto link individual Web pages together.
 49. The system of claim 48,wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor toimplement the function of enabling a user to add a navigation bar toeach Web page to be linked together, thereby generating a Web site.